And I’m lucky enough to host Janine Ashbless interviewing her main character, Milja, right here!

JA: I’m interviewing Milja Petak, heroine of my novel The Prison of the Angels. Hello Milja! It’s good to see you in one piece; last time readers had a chance to catch up with you, things were looking really dicey. You’d freed the Angel of the Written Word from her prison, but you and Egan were stuck in the middle of the Minnesotan wilderness, and you’d just called in a Vatican hit-squad to come and get you both…

MILJA: Come on. I didn’t have any choice about that! Egan was dying – I had to get him to hospital and there was no one else who’d come save him.

MILJA: What are you implying? Again, I had to do it. It was self-defense. And she was killing Azazel. It’s not like I wanted to!

JA: Hmm. That whole episode must have been a pretty low point for you, I’m guessing.

MILJA: It couldn’t have been much worse. My whole world had imploded. I hated myself. I was alone. Completely alone. And yeah, I’ve got no one to blame but myself, I know that. I didn’t think Azazel would ever forgive me… he’s not the merciful type.

JA: But he’s still talking to you now?

MILJA: Not so much of the ‘talking’ – but he’s still around, yeah. He still likes to… Look, it’s complicated. Shit, all my relationships are ‘complicated’. But our plans converge, you might say. Azazel still wants to free the rest of the fallen angels, and I want to save him from the wrath of the Heavenly Host. That’s all I can try to do. I owe him that much.

JA: And Egan?

MILJA [looks down at hands]: He’s still around too. He’s here with me in Norway. We’re looking for the Serpent of the Garden of Eden, believe it or not. He was, like, a god around here, for a while.

JA: I meant, what’s Egan’s big plan?

MILJA: He wants to stop the Apocalypse. No pressure there, huh?

JA: And live happily ever after with you.

MILJA [laughs bitterly]: No, he’s made it quite clear that’s not going to happen. But he loves me. But he can’t leave the Church. But he would do anything for me. Oh … I don’t know what he wants, except maybe martyrdom. He does my head in, more than Azazel. I get Azazel; I don’t know what the hell’s going on with Egan.

JA: You sure know how to pick your problematic men, Milja.

MILJA: Egan’s a good guy, don’t get me wrong. He’s trying to do the right thing. We tried to negotiate with his Vatican bosses, to stop this second War in Heaven … but I screwed that up too. I do that a lot, it seems. I discovered their big secret; what happened to the Archangel Gabriel – and boy are they pissed.

JA: No you didn’t.

MILJA: What do you mean?

JA: That’s not their Big Secret. That one’s pretty bad, but not the worst thing they have to hide. Not by a long way. And that’s why they’re so worried about you and Azazel. Egan knows, by the way. He’s just not telling you.

MILJA [head in hands]: Oh God. Why has everyone got to have secrets? How am I supposed to know who to trust?

JA: Well, don’t worry about that. You’re going to find out all the secrets this time round. The answers to everything hidden. Egan… Vidimus… The Archangel Uriel…and Gabriel… I’m not going to promise you’ll like it, but I can promise that you will understand, before the end.

MILJA: The end?

JA: The End of the World. It’s, uh … coming up real soon.

MILJA: … Can we prevent it?

JA: I can’t tell you that. But if you’re going to try, you need to get Egan and Azazel to stop being at each other’s throats and work together.

MILJA: Like that’s going to happen!

JA: Loving you is the one thing they have in common. And you’d be surprised what they’ll do to keep you.

MILJA: …

JA: Now go out there and kick ass, Milja. Save the world. Show them what it means to truly love. Uncover all the secrets – including your own.

MILJA: Mine?

JA: Why do you never mention your mother, Milja?

MILJA: Go to Hell, Ashbless. [Walks out]

JA: Yeah, you might have to swing by there too, come to think of it…

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Who is this Janine Ashbless?

Janine Ashbless is a writer of fantasy erotica and steamy romantic adventure – and that’s “fantasy” in the sense of swords ‘n’ sandals, contemporary paranormal, fairytale, and stories based on mythology and folklore.She likes to write about magic and mystery, dangerous power dynamics, borderline terror, and the not-quite-human.

Janine has been seeing her books in print ever since 2000, and her novels and single-author collections now run into double figures. She’s also had numerous short stories published by Black Lace, Nexus, Cleis Press, Ravenous Romance, Harlequin Spice, Storm Moon, Xcite, Mischief Books, and Ellora’s Cave among others. She is co-editor of the nerd erotica anthology Geek Love.

Her work has been described as: “hardcore and literate” (Madeline Moore) and “vivid and tempestuous and dangerous, and bursting with sacrifice, death and love.” (Portia Da Costa)